Fantasy buzz: Reinhart thrives after reunion with Eichel

All season long, NHL.com's fantasy hockey staff will have you covered with daily lineup news, production trends and injury notes from around the League. We will identify how these developments affect fantasy owners in year-long (Yahoo) and daily (DraftKings) formats.

3 p.m.

Smith sidelined for Flames; Gillies recalled

Calgary Flames goaltender Mike Smith will miss their game against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, FS-D+, NHL.TV) because of an upper-body injury.

With Smith's day-to-day injury, backup Eddie Lack (13 percent owned in Yahoo) will make his second start of the season. The Flames have also recalled Jon Gillies (1 percent) from Stockton of the American Hockey League.

Lack is priced at $7,400 in DraftKings, but struggled in his lone road game of the season; he allowed four goals on 28 shots faced in a 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 25.

Smith, 35, is 69th overall (ninth among starting goalies) in Yahoo's performance-based rankings with nine wins, a 2.62 goals-against average, .921 save percentage and one shutout. He is tied with Cam Talbot (Edmonton Oilers) and Frederik Andersen (Toronto Maple Leafs) for the most starts in the NHL this season with 16.

Gillies, especially in keeper/dynasty formats, may be worth adding or stashing in case Smith misses any extended period of time. The 23-year-old won his only NHL start last season with 27 saves on 28 shots faced against the Los Angeles Kings on April 6. He has played 54 AHL games over the past three seasons and is 24-20-6 with a .912 SV% and four shutouts.

Fantasy owners shouldn't make any rash decisions yet involving Smith, who has not been ruled out for Calgary's game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. If you have the flexibility of an IR+ spot in Yahoo, outside replacement options include Charlie Lindgren (Montreal Canadiens, 45 percent owned), Thomas Greiss (New York Islanders, 40 percent) and Anders Nilsson (Vancouver Canucks, 22 percent). Malcolm Subban (Vegas Golden Knights, 13 percent) is also worth monitoring as he nears a return from a lower-body injury.

Buffalo Sabres forward Sam Reinhart reminded fantasy owners how valuable he can be when playing alongside center Jack Eichel in all situations.

Playing right wing on a line with Eichel and Evander Kane, Reinhart (C/LW/RW, 26 percent owned in Yahoo) had three points (one goal, two assists), a plus-2, two power-play points and four shots on goal in Buffalo's 5-4 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. Eichel had played alongside Kane and Jason Pominville for most of the season.

Reinhart seized the promotion and played 18:36 (1:38 on power play), well above his season average (15:46 in mostly third-line role). Reinhart scored 37 points (13 goals, 24 assists) and 12 power-play points over his final 58 games last season alongside mostly Eichel after the center returned from an early-season ankle injury.

Reinhart had been held to five points (two goals, three assists) and two PPP over 17 games prior to this outburst, but is worth considering in standard leagues following this development. He was one of NHL.com's preseason breakout candidates.